Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Repeat visitors may have noticed a new graphic here recently. Take a look at the top of the right side, where you will find an advertisement for Tampa4Sale.com. Tampa4Sale wants to take over the traditional classified section of the newspaper, and you can place your ad with them for free!

USA4SALE Networks, Inc. began in Ocala in 1998 as a family business from a home office – in between diaper changes and day jobs! The endeavor now includes a staff of eight, and recently expanded their reach to Gainesville, Orlando, and recently Tampa. Rather than trying to serve the whole country at once, they plan to grow organically into adjacent communities. This approach will allow them to serve their customers more effectively. USA4SALE says they publish more classifieds in central Florida than most daily newspapers.

Each local website offers basic classifieds at no charge for private sellers. Business classifieds cost $20 and premium features (photos, weblinks and attention grabbers) can also be purchased. Even help wanted ads are allowed at no charge.

Partner and publisher Michael Warren:

With the Internet, it no longer makes sense for anyone to pay to sell a lawnmower. We’re seeing a dramatic shift in the classified advertising business, as more and more sellers see the benefits – and reduced cost – of advertising online.

We want to provide a good service to the Tampa / St. Pete area. Quite a few people in Tampa Bay have been using Ocala4sale, and they asked us to add a site for Tampa.

Sticks of Fire gladly supports home-grown local businesses, and we wish Michael Warren and the USA4SALE Networks the best of luck. In fact, we already have placed an ad on Tampa4Sale.com (go buy a fishin’ boat). If you have something you want to sell (or buy!), visit Ocala4Sale, Gainesville4Sale, Orlando4Sale, or the new Tampa4Sale.

Spurred on by the recent flap of acceptable displays in libraries, Gary Mormino writes about Tampa’s struggles to open its first library. I’m including a quick rundown here, but for a complete picture, I highly recommend Mormino’s column in the Tribune. I found it a good read, and a interesting story. In a nutshell, our local governments haven’t really changed much in the last hundred years.

In 1900, the wife of businessman Sumter L. Lowry (yep, the zoo is named after him) wrote to Andrew Carnegie, asking him to build us a library. Two years later, Carnegie agreed and Tampa residents voted to accept Carnegie’s offer. A nervous and infighting city council wouldn’t pass the resolution, and the idea died.

A decade after that, the Board of Trade (Chamber of Commerce) convinced Carnegie to build a building, and promised that Tampa would pay for books & maintenance. The voters once again approved the measure, but the project was delayed because of government bickering. One of the conflicts was location; the Mayor wanted it built in Plant Park and the city council insisted on Tampa Heights.

Meanwhile, West Tampa (a completely separate municipality at the time) built and opened their Carnegie Library in 1913. The West Tampa Library still stands today at 1718 N. Howard Av.

Finally, in 1915, the Tampa building was completed at 102 East 7th Avenue, between Franklin and Tampa Streets. But no one went, for there were no books. Even though the library ended up in Tampa Heights, the city council was not satisfied, so they denied funding for books or furniture.

In 1917, a winter visitor donated 4,000 books, and the library finally opened on April 27. Blacks were not welcome then, and gays are not made to feel really welcome now.

If it interests you, go read Mormino’s entire piece.

The Space Shuttle has taken off from Florida’s east coast. Keep up with the latest info from NASA.

On this day in 1848, President James K. Polk, who was pretty good at acquiring land, signed the order giving 160 acres of Fort Brooke to Hillsborough County.

Hillsborough County was split in 1860, and the eastern half was named Polk County, in honor of good ol’ James K. Our neighbors became the third county in the nation so named.

The Pensacola Beach Blog has an interesting post about Wal-Mart. It seems they are bullying the local newspaper in Pensacola after a columnist mentioned the corporation leaves their workers with few benefits. He reports that Wal-Mart will no longer sell the Pensacola News Journal, but may change their mind if the columnist, Mark O’Brien is fired. The Beach Blogger has a lot more.

A quick update on the construction of the “Second Story Architecturally Beautiful Limited Access Toll Thruway Built On Quicksand By Canadians — Now With One Way At A Time Technology Including Super Fast Slingshot Safety Net” addition to the Selmon Expressway: Now they are spraying passing cars with a paint-like concrete sealant.
The zany antics never end.

Daylight Savings Time is changing. Isn’t this gonna screw up the batteries on my smoke detector?

Somehow, Mayor Pam has determined that there may not be public support for relocating the Art Museum at the old courthouse. She and the Museum Board will now take a step back, and consider other alternatives. I am happy that there will at least be an attempt to find a suitable location elsewhere in the city. To be sure, the museum could end up in the courthouse, and if that’s the case, so be it. Just make a valid case for it.

Now that it’s over, let’s go back to poking fun at elected officials.

For this story, City Councilor Linda Saul-Sena was asked about other alternatives for the museum, and she said

“Did you ever play the Price is Right? A or B or what’s behind this box? I don’t think it’s appropriate to comment on the unknown.”

Ummmm… Linda, A or B or a box is “Let’s Make A Deal.” They had you choosing from unknowns. “The Price is Right” (volume!) just wants you to guess the price. Go Play Let’s Make A Deal